Vinci demands 1,6 billion euros from the State after the abandonment of the airport project at Notre-Dame-des-Landes

During a hearing, the court examined two cases "between the company Aéroports du Grand Ouest and its main shareholders (...) and the State relating to the abandonment of the airport project at Notre-Dame-des- Landes,” the court wrote to AFP.

“The compensation requested [by Vinci] amounts to 1,6 billion euros,” he said.

The judgment will not be rendered “for at least two weeks”.

According to the regional daily Ouest-France, the public rapporteur recommended the rejection of the request, arguing that the State's decision was justified by reasons of general interest.

“We do not comment on a procedure that is still ongoing,” Vinci told AFP.

On January 17, 2018, the government abandoned the construction of an airport at Notre-Dame-des-Landes, in Loire-Atlantique, a controversial fifty-year-old project whose abandonment led to violent evictions and gave way to a land puzzle to redistribute land in the Deferred Development Zone (Zad).

The concession company, Aéroport du Grand Ouest (AGO), 85% owned by Vinci, demanded compensation of “several hundred million euros”, indicated Élisabeth Borne, then Minister of Transport.

The Vinci group manages 12 airports in France, including Lyon-Saint Exupéry, Rennes Bretagne, Toulon-Hyères and Nantes-Atlantique, and 70 around the world, according to its official website.